Koji Sato will take a shot at the WBA middleweight title with a fight against German champion Felix Sturm in Krefeld, Germany, on April 25, Japanese boxing officials said Monday.

Sato, currently the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation middleweight champion, is bidding to join Shinji Takehara as the only Japanese to win world middleweight titles. Takehara was the WBA middleweight champion between December 1995 and June 1996.

The 28-year-old Sato has a 14-0 record with 13 knockouts.